Black Foils strategist Liv Mackay revels in the exhilaration of soaring across the water at top speeds.
Sailing at 95km/h towards a rock wall evokes both an intense thrill and a profound sense of calm. For Mackay, the essence of her sport lies in “attacking the situation”.
This competitive spirit is why failing to win SailGP season 4 was particularly painful.
“I’m feeling really flat right now,” she told the Herald the morning after the $3.2 million race.
“We felt really strong ... and over the last few months felt good energy around it and really solid as a team.
“But I guess that’s the nature of sport … It’s pretty brutal.”
The Black Foils saw their season of SailGP dominance slip to a third-place finish in the final after trailing at mark one and having to try and fight their way back.
“Going into the race we got a three-minute delay right before we were about to start,” Mackay revealed. “So that kind of pushed things around a little bit and it’s just so hard after they start to come back into it.
“We tried to force an opportunity which just didn’t go our way. [The officials] had a problem with the bottom mark … The tide in San Francisco has been a real issue for the marks and we keep losing them.
“In the final, there was only one bottom mark, which limits your options a bit, which was a real shame for us.”
The 26-year-old played a crucial role in the Black Foils’ most dominant SailGP season yet. Despite the race not going as planned, Mackay views this year as a significant milestone in her career.
“This season’s been big for me in my development. I would say that the development of my role, it’s really shifted when I think back to the start of the season … and my level of responsibility has really grown.”
From growing up on a farm in Tūtira, north of Napier, Mackay helped to manoeuvre the F50 fleet to seven podium finishes, including five event wins in Chicago, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Christchurch and New York. She was voted by fans as strategist of the year.
While her role may not receive as much attention as those of her teammates, such as driver Peter Burling and wing-trimmer Blair Tuke, Mackay plays a crucial part in the team’s success. She explained that her primary responsibility was to ensure the best decisions were made on the water.
“There’s a lot of different information … I, alongside Josh Junior and Ray Davies in the coach’s booth, really try and paint a good picture for Pete so that he can make good decisions.
“That looks different in different conditions, basically, but I have my head out all the time looking around, looking for wind on the water, looking at other boats so that [Pete] can just have an idea in his head and put the boat in hopefully the right place.”
She’s still trying to improve at being a better communicator.
“Getting on the same page sometimes is hard. The biggest thing that I’ve had to learn is how to communicate well and I’m still doing that a lot.”
Mackay said being the only female on the boat had been a tough gig.
The competition’s pathway for women was intended to create an inclusive sporting championship by providing equal opportunities for the best athletes to compete together on the F50.
Since Season 2′s Spain SailGP, all teams have had to include a female athlete on board and hold selection camps to train and develop female athletes, fast-tracking their progress.
Mackay said the initiative – while trailblazing – came with its challenges.
“When we’re racing, I really like it but there are some challenges ... when we travel so much together, it is quite different being the only female.
“There’s a lot of small things that can add up. I’ve never seen it as a bad thing but I think it would be different if I was sailing with, for instance, my girlfriends.”
She admitted that the ruling from SailGP initially felt “token”.
“I would be lying if that wasn’t the case at the beginning. But right now I truly don’t think that’s the case at all.
“I don’t feel like a token and I feel like we equally rely on each other within the team to perform and I think it’s a great place to be.
“But of course, there’s a lot more in the bigger scheme of things that needs to happen with getting more females at the top of our sport and I really believe it’s happening but it’s not going to change overnight.
“I think there needs to be a long-term vision with bringing more females into the top level in our sport and not just ... next season or the season after.
“In 10 years we want to be set up really well for gender equality across our sport.”
Mackay’s message to young girls considering a career similar to hers is to go all in. “I was kind of half in and half doing university because I didn’t see a career option.
“There was always that narrative that you need to have a backup with things like this. Whereas right now I wish I’d gone all in at 18 and just got consumed by it and just loved it.”
Between now and next season, which starts in Dubai in November, Mackay won’t get much of a break. She’ll help lead New Zealand at the first women’s America’s Cup in Barcelona.
“It’s going to be an incredible few months,” she said. “Racing the AC40 for the first time and I think it will be incredible for women in sailing.
“I’ll be doing a lot of driving and a lot of yachting in the next few months so that will set me up hopefully really well, coming into next season.”
Reflecting on what she’s achieved, Mackay said she never imagined being in the position she’s in today.
“I’m not from a sailing background – my parents don’t sail or anything – but my brother started to get into it.
“My parents were super supportive and helped my brother and me get into it. Your whole family gets into it, which was really cool.
“Naturally, I was very competitive, played a lot of different sports, and just loved the aspect of sailing, the freedom and being out on the water.
“It’s pretty full-on as a kid. You’re out there and you have to be responsible for many things. It’s quite cool, with a lot of decision-making and different conditions you’re exposed to.
“I wouldn’t say I was obsessed when I was younger, but I always really enjoyed it and wanted to do more. Over time, it has grown more and more into probably a bit of an obsession.”
Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She’s a football commentator and co-host of the Football Fever podcast and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.
After defending the America's Cup, teammates became SailGP rivals for Andy Maloney.